DETAILED ACTION
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-2, 10-13 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) / 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Zang et al. (“Development of a passive dynamic walking robot based on mechanical structural parameters optimization;” Zang et al., 2017 IEEE International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM) (2017, Page(s): 1465-1470); 2017-07-01)
Regarding claim 1, Zang et al. disclose a method for controlling a robot via a control hardware, the robot comprising:
a body (e.g., robot’s body (section III and Figure 13)), and
a first robotic leg set (e.g., two outer legs) and a second robotic leg set (e.g., two inner legs) connected to the body through hip joints (e.g., the two outer and inner legs are connected to the robot hip joints (section III and Figures 10 and 13)),
at least one of the first robotic leg set and the second robotic leg set comprising at least two robotic legs (e.g., Figures 10 and 13 show outer and inner legs with two leg segments each of them (see Figure 10 below with annotation) ), and
a rotation center of a first hip joint corresponding to the first robotic leg set (e.g., Figures 10 and 13 show outer legs rotating at a first hip join(s) (Section IV and Figures 13 and Figure 10 below with annotation)) and
a rotation center of a second hip joint corresponding to the second robotic leg set being located on a same vertical plane (e.g., Figures 10 and 13 show the inner legs rotating at a second hip join(s), wherein the first and second hip joins are located in a same vertical plane (Section IV and Figures 13 and Figure 10 below with annotation)), and
the method comprising:
standing on a support plane in an overlapping standing state (e.g., Figures 10 and 14(6) show the robot standing on a ground in an overlapping standing state (Section III-A and Section IV-B) and Figure 14(6) and Figure 10 with annotation below),
position errors among the respective robotic legs of the robot in the overlapping standing state in a first direction being zero (e.g., Figures 10 and 14(6) show the robot’s outer and inner legs within position error zero in the overlapping standing state, wherein the angle (ϕ) between the outer legs and inner legs is set to a desired angle ( ϕе) – for instance, zero (Section III-A and Section IV-B) and Figure 14(6) and Figure 10 with annotation below)); and
Note: the specification discloses the term “position errors” to be zero as the angle between the outer and inner legs to be zero; in another work, both outer and inner legs to be parallel to each other – Pub. par. 60, 65 and Figure 7.
controlling the first robotic leg set and the second robotic leg set to swing alternately to move on the support plane in the first direction (e.g., controlling a robot to walk on a level ground via a control hardware and motor (Section IV-A and IV-B and Section V)).
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Figure 10: part 1 – Passive Robot with annotation
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Figure 10: part 2 - Passive Robot with annotation
Regarding claim 2, Zang et al. disclose a method for controlling a robot via a control hardware, wherein the robot stops moving after n stepping periods (e.g., Figures 13-14 show the robot walking a predetermine number of steps before stopping; for instance, 7 steps (Section IV and Section II-B and Figures 13-14) ),
a stepping period indicating a duration for the first robotic leg set or the second robotic leg set to complete one swing, and n being a positive integer (e.g., as the robot performs a walking process, each completed step of the robot leg is performed within a predetermined time / period; wherein the 7 steps is a positive integer (Section IV and Section V)); and
the controlling the first robotic leg set and the second robotic leg set to swing alternately to move on the support plane in the first direction (e.g., controlling a robot to walk on a level ground via a control hardware and motor by swinging the inner and outer legs (Section IV-A and IV-B and Section V)) ) comprises:
determining, for a stepping period, a stance robotic leg set and a swinging robotic leg set corresponding to the stepping period from the first robotic leg set and the second robotic leg set (e.g., as the robot performs a walking process, stance legs and swing legs are determined in order for the robot to achieve the walking process within a predetermined time / period – for instance, Figures 13 and 14 show the robot walking using the inner and outer legs as stance legs and swinging legs in an alternative mode (Section II-B and Figures 13-14 and related disclosures));
swinging the swinging robotic leg set in the first direction by using the stance robotic leg set as a support (e.g., Figures 13 and 14 show the two inner legs operating as a swing leg during a walking process while the two outer legs operating as stance legs (Sections IV and V and Figures 13-14) ); and
stopping swinging the swinging robotic leg set in response to the swinging robotic leg set reaching a first position on the support plane corresponding to the stepping period (e.g., the swing leg is controlled to rotate forward until the swing foot touches the ground. Figures 13-14 show inner legs being controlled to swing until their foot touches the ground (Section IV and Figures 13-14)).
Regarding claim 10, Zang et al. disclose a method for controlling a robot via a control hardware, wherein the hip joints of the robot are coaxial (e.g., Figures 10 and 13 show hip joins of the robot sharing a common central axis – hip joins are coaxial (Section III and Figures 10 and 13 and related disclosure)).
Regarding claim 11, Zang et al. disclose a method for controlling a robot via a control hardware, wherein robotic legs in the first robotic leg set move synchronously, robotic legs in the second robotic leg set move synchronously, and the body of the robot keeps vertical during movement of the robot (e.g., Figures 13 and 14 show the inner and outer legs operating in synchronous pattern during a walking process while the robot’s body is kept vertically (Sections IV and V and Figures 13-14) ).
Regarding claim 12, Zang et al. disclose control hardware for controlling a robot via a control hardware, which requires a storage medium for storing programming and be executed by the control hardware, the robot comprising:
a body (e.g., robot’s body (section III and Figure 13)), and
a first robotic leg set (e.g., two outer legs) and a second robotic leg set (e.g., two inner legs) connected to the body through hip joints (e.g., the two outer and inner legs are connected to the robot hip joints (section III and Figures 10 and 13)),
at least one of the first robotic leg set and the second robotic leg set comprising at least two robotic legs (e.g., Figures 10 and 13 show outer and inner legs with two leg segments each of them (see Figure 10 above with annotation and Figure 13) ), and
a rotation center of a first hip joint corresponding to the first robotic leg set (e.g., Figures 10 and 13 show outer legs rotating at a first hip join(s) (Section IV and Figures 13 and Figure 10 below with annotation)) and
a rotation center of a second hip joint corresponding to the second robotic leg set being located on a same vertical plane (e.g., Figures 10 and 13 show the inner legs rotating at a second hip join(s), wherein the first and second hip joins are located in a same vertical plane (Section IV and Figures 13 and Figure 10 below with annotation)),,
the computer program being loaded and executed by the processor (e.g., the control hardware executing the PC programming (Section IV)) to implement:
standing on a support plane in an overlapping standing state e.g., Figures 10 and 14(6) show the robot standing on a ground in an overlapping standing state (Section III-A and Section IV-B) and Figure 14(6) and Figure 10 with annotation above),
position errors among the respective robotic legs of the robot in the overlapping standing state in a first direction being zero (e.g., Figures 10 and 14(6) show the robot’s outer and inner legs within position error zero in the overlapping standing state, wherein the angle (ϕ) between the outer legs and inner legs is set to a desired angle ( ϕе) – for instance, zero (Section III-A and Section IV-B) and Figure 14(6) and Figure 10 with annotation above)); and
Note: the specification discloses the term “position errors” to be zero as the angle between the outer and inner legs to be zero; in another work, both outer and inner legs to be parallel to each other – Pub. par. 60, 65 and Figure 7.
controlling the first robotic leg set and the second robotic leg set to swing alternately to move on the support plane in the first direction (e.g., controlling a robot to walk on a level ground via a control hardware and motor (Section IV-A and IV-B and Section V)).
Regarding claim 13, Zang et al. disclose control hardware for controlling a robot via a control hardware
wherein the robot stops moving after n stepping periods (e.g., Figures 13-14 show the robot walking a predetermine number of steps before stopping; for instance, 7 steps (Section IV and Section II-B and Figures 13-14) ),
a stepping period indicating a duration for the first robotic leg set or the second robotic leg set to complete one swing, and n being a positive integer (e.g., as the robot performs a walking process, each completed step of the robot leg is performed within a predetermined time / period; wherein the 7 steps is a positive integer (Section IV and Section V)); and
the controlling the first robotic leg set and the second robotic leg set to swing alternately to move on the support plane in the first direction (e.g., controlling a robot to walk on a level ground via a control hardware and motor by swinging the inner and outer legs (Section IV-A and IV-B and Section V)) ) comprises:
determining, for a stepping period, a stance robotic leg set and a swinging robotic leg set corresponding to the stepping period from the first robotic leg set and the second robotic leg set (e.g., as the robot performs a walking process, stance legs and swing legs are determined in order for the robot to achieve the walking process within a predetermined time / period – for instance, Figures 13 and 14 show the robot walking using the inner and outer legs as stance legs and swinging legs in an alternative mode (Section II-B and Figures 13-14 and related disclosures));
swinging the swinging robotic leg set in the first direction by using the stance robotic leg set as a support (e.g., Figures 13 and 14 show the two inner legs operating as a swing leg during a walking process while the two outer legs operating as stance legs (Sections IV and V and Figures 13-14) ); and
stopping swinging the swinging robotic leg set in response to the swinging robotic leg set reaching a first position on the support plane corresponding to the stepping period (e.g., the swing leg is controlled to rotate forward until the swing foot touches the ground. Figures 13-14 show inner legs being controlled to swing until their foot touches the ground (Section IV and Figures 13-14)).
Regarding claim 20, Zang et al. disclose PC programming for controlling a robot via a control hardware, which requires a storage medium for storing the programming and be executed by the control hardware, the robot comprising:
a body (e.g., robot’s body (section III and Figure 13)), and
a first robotic leg set (e.g., two outer legs) and a second robotic leg set (e.g., two inner legs) connected to the body through hip joints (e.g., the two outer and inner legs are connected to the robot hip joints (section III and Figures 10 and 13)),
at least one of the first robotic leg set and the second robotic leg set comprising at least two robotic legs (e.g., Figures 10 and 13 show outer and inner legs with two leg segments each of them (see Figure 10 above with annotation and Figure 13) ), and
a rotation center of a first hip joint corresponding to the first robotic leg set (e.g., Figures 10 and 13 show outer legs rotating at a first hip join(s) (Section IV and Figures 13 and Figure 10 below with annotation)) and
a rotation center of a second hip joint corresponding to the second robotic leg set being located on a same vertical plane (e.g., Figures 10 and 13 show the inner legs rotating at a second hip join(s), wherein the first and second hip joins are located in a same vertical plane (Section IV and Figures 13 and Figure 10 below with annotation)),
wherein the computer program causes the processor to perform (e.g., the control hardware executing the PC programming (Section IV)):
standing on a support plane in an overlapping standing state (e.g., Figures 10 and 14(6) show the robot standing on a ground in an overlapping standing state (Section III-A and Section IV-B) and Figure 14(6) and Figure 10 with annotation above),
position errors among the respective robotic legs of the robot in the overlapping standing state in a first direction being zero (e.g., Figures 10 and 14(6) show the robot’s outer and inner legs within position error zero in the overlapping standing state, wherein the angle (ϕ) between the outer legs and inner legs is set to a desired angle ( ϕе) – for instance, zero (Section III-A and Section IV-B) and Figure 14(6) and Figure 10 with annotation above)); and
Note: the specification discloses the term “position errors” to be zero as the angle between the outer and inner legs to be zero; in another work, both outer and inner legs to be parallel to each other – Pub. par. 60, 65 and Figure 7.
controlling the first robotic leg set and the second robotic leg set to swing alternately to move on the support plane in the first direction (e.g., controlling a robot to walk on a level ground via a control hardware and motor (Section IV-A and IV-B and Section V)).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 3-9 and 14-19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Liu et al. (“Effects of PD control parameter on walking characteristics of a passive dynamic walker with torso;” Liu et al., 2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO 2014) (2014, Page(s): 2511-2516); 2014-12-01) is directed to a passive biped walking robot for controlling its two outer legs and two inner legs to perform a walking task.
Takasugi et al. (US 2024/0058943 A1) is directed to an apparatus and method for leg wheel robot configured to predict movement range within an environment.
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